Pleated protective shield



Dec. 2, 1952 RRRRRRRRRR 2,619,646

Patented Dec. 2, 1,95?v

PLEAT-D PROTECTIVE SHIELD lUgo Torricelli, New York, N. Y., assignor to Torricelli Creations, Inc., New York, N Y.

Application December 14, 1950, Serial No. 200,787

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a protective shield for use when drying the hair? under hair drying equipment.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a protective shield adapted to protect the face, forehead, ears and neck against the hot air blasts of a hair dryer such l'as is customarily used Iin beauty parlor procedures.

It is Ianother object ofthe invention to provide a pleated protective shield for use with hair dryers which can be folded to occupy a small space and which is expandable to generally circular form for use around the head and wherein the inner edge of the pleated shield which comes into contact with the head is provided with Iiat angled and overlapping end projections vwhich can be applied to the head surface to provide adequate engagement therewith for the retention of the pleated shield in a radially extended direction upon the head and which will avoid the engagement with the head of sharp end edges and thereby to render the same com- -fortable in use.

-Other objects of the invention are to provide a pleated and expandable protective shield for use about the head which is of simple construction, inexpensive to manufacture, has a minimum number of parts, is easy to t and tie about the head, is compact and can be easily fitted into a ladys handbag or other small space and which is adequately, durable vand eicient in use.

For -other objects and for a better understanding of the invention, reference is now made to the following detailed description taken in ccnjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which;

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the pleated protective shield in place on the head of a wearer and embodying the features of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the shield in its unexpanded condition illustrating it retracted :into a small package occupying a minimum of space.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective View of a portion of the shield with the pleats expanded and the folded over inner ends partially overlapping one another. Y

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the expanded shield taken generally on line 4-4 of Fig. 1 and Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective View of a portion of the shield with the pleats expanded beyond their usual extent to show the construction thereof, the cord having been removed in order to show more clearly the arrangement of the inner ends of the pleats,

Referring now to the figures, the numeral IE designates as a whole the protective shield embodying thefeatures of the present invention. This shield is formed of flexible and bendable sheet material, such asv paper, plastic or 'other semirigid or self-supporting material. A rectangular strip of this material is folded into pleats II of the character shown and the inner ends of the pleats Iare cut out or notched as shown at' I2 for a distance approximately equal to the Width of the pleat portions to provide a series of tabs I3 which .are adapted to partially overlap one another, as shown more clearly in Fig. 3, when the pleats are expanded into their condition for use. The overlapping of the tabs I3 results primarily from the fact that the outer portion of the pleats becomes expanded to a greater extent than the inner portions and therefore the pleats flare somewhat in a radially outward direction during use.

Through the inner end of each pleat is a centrally disposed hole I4 through which a tie cord I5 is extended and used in order to tighten the shield about the head. This tie cord I5 extends beyond the ends of the shield and is sufficiently long to allow the shield to be expanded and still provide suiicient length to effect a tying of thel of the pleats into a compact package. as shown in Fig. 2. These tabs will automatically adj ust themselves partially over one another as the pleats are expanded and the outer portion of the shield is expanded to a greater extent than the inner portion. With the tie cord secured around the head, the portions of the shield can 'be adjusted to fully encircle the head and to provide a substantially uniform expanded condition. The ends of the shield are brought together at the back of the head.

It will be apparent that with this shield in position about the head with the outer periphery somewhat lower than the inner periphery, the pleats will be inclined downwardly and hot blasts of air from the hair dryer will be directed along the pleats downwardly and outwardly away from the face, thetop and back of the head and the neck.

When the shield is not in use, it is normally collapsed or folded into a compact package, as shown in Fig. 2, and may be maintained in that condition by the placing therearound of an elastic band or sleeve (not illustrated). It will, accordingly, occupy little space and, if desired, be thereby easily transported to the beauty parlor 3 in a purse or handbag When the hair is to be treated but ordinarily such shields Will be kept in supply at the beauty parlor.

The tabs or flanges I3 will partially overlap one another, as shown in Fig. 3, and are bent at the termini of the notches or slits I2, as indicated at I1, into a substantially right-angled position. The pleat fold troughs and peaks are indicated at I8 and I9, respectively. With the tabs I3 extending partially over one another, a continuous, flat and rrn engagement of the inner periphery of the shield is provided around the head of the wearer.

While various changes may be made inthe details of construction, it is to be understood that such changes are Within the spirit and scope of the present invention as dened by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A protective shield adapted to be applied about the head during hairv drying to deiiect hot air blasts from a hair dryer away from the face and neck ofthe wearer which comprises a pleated strip of flexible sheet material, each of `the pleats of which terminate at one end in a projecting tab bendable at an angle with respect to its pleat, each pleat having an aperture adjacent the end thereof from which the tab projects and a exible tie member threaded through the pleat .4 apertures and having its ends extending beyond said pleats for tying at the back of the Wearers head, said pleated strip being retractable into a compact package and expandable into circular form with successive tabs partially overlapped to form a continuous surface for contact with the wearers head.

2. A protective shield in accordance with claim 1 in which each tab is bendable at right angles to its pleat and in which each pleat aperture is disposed centrally of its pleat.

3. A protective shield in accordance with claim 1 in which the pleated strip of sheet material is of uniform `Width from end to end and of such length as to. form a complete circle about the wearers head.

UGO TORRICELLI.

REFERENCES CITED The followingvreferences,are ofl record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date.

2,242,555 VThurnherr May 20, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 1,068 Switzerland May 23, 1839 

